


Curtain call and the last spotlight is on you

by orangeji



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: College AU, Cuddling, Fluff, M/M, chenle is a theater (??) major, hinted rensung :DD, lots of hugs, maybe a bit of yearning?, oh . spoilers about studio ghibli films yeah, pinning but very subtly, they live in an apartment together All of them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:34:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26035747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orangeji/pseuds/orangeji
Summary: Instead of falling asleep like Jaemin, Chenle learns to pick up the beat his heart was making. It was thrilling and upbeat, it was very loud, loud enough that it even echoes in his ears or even in the empty room that only had Jaemin's soft snores bouncing around the wall.
Relationships: Na Jaemin/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 5
Kudos: 37





	Curtain call and the last spotlight is on you

**Author's Note:**

> (imagine their apartment like the place they stayed in the nct dream stay under the blanket video but with more rooms)

The first thing he notices when he steps a foot on their apartment is Jaemin. 

He rarely stayed inside their apartment for two weeks now since his theater practices for the upcoming play was basically taking almost all of his time that he had no choice but to temporarily sleep in the accommodation set for them near the school. The situation inside the apartment was brand new to him as he slipped his shoes off of his feet ready to crash into his own bed to sleep for the whole day. 

Except he sees a sulking Jaemin in their living room with scattered papers around the coffee table. Maybe, he can spare a few minutes of his supposedly rest time to talk to Jaemin. 

"Stressed?" He asks as he plops down the couch, closing his eyes briefly before eyeing Jaemin who looks at him with bright eyes. 

"Oh, Chenle? You're home for today?" 

"Hm, they say rest day til Monday."

"You must be tired, you should go to sleep now."

He hums as an answer while Jaemin returned to what he was doing, the TV was emitting a very muttered sound probably caused by the volume being turned too low it mixed with the sound of flipping pages Jaemin was making as he looked into each of pages. Chenle lifts his body that was slowly melting into the couch as the heaviness of his eyelids got him and instead settles his head on Jaemin's shoulder slowly humming as he focuses on the papers in the hands of his roommate. 

"Is that your thesis?" He asks, shaking his head slightly as he smells that familiar scent of fabric softener on his clothes. Jaemin just whines, until Chenle feels the soft pats on his head. 

"Yeah, the professor wanted a hard copy of it to correct, I'm just trying to check everything and the references because I feel like one of our groupmates fucked up really badly." He hides his face on the crook of Jaemin's neck, thanking himself that he never chose a major that involves writing papers about experiments and such. 

They stayed like that for quite a while, the white noises that Chenle have picked up slowly lull him to sleep on Jaemin's shoulders until he realized that the weight his head was adding onto his roommate's shoulder would further strain it so he jolts awake and sits up properly which makes Jaemin turn his head in concern. 

"I'm sorry, I might make your shoulder hurt more I didn't realize." He opens his bag and fishes out the pain relief patches he has that weren't opened yet and places it on top of one of the papers before he stood up. 

"I'm going to bed, night Nana." He says and drags his feet towards his room where Jisung should also be sleeping, except, 

"Where's Jisung?" 

"Oh. On Renjun's bed." Chenle turns around to Jaemin who answered him through his papers who now wears a frown that Chenle can't decipher whether was caused by the answer he got or by the papers or maybe both. 

Chenle wasn't in the mood nor mental state to think more about it so instead he nods, hands gripping the doorknob once more as he pushes the door and closes it after he has stepped inside. He throws his bag near his bed, quickly taking off the clothes he was wearing to change into his pajamas that smelled exactly as the fabric softener he smelled on Jaemin and plops down onto his bed, becoming one with the bed mattress as sleep takes him to the land of dreaming. 

(He dreams on the stage that night, lights brightly hitting him as he sings which also makes him unable to see the crowd for a while until focused on a blurry figure at the back row then, its darkness.)

He doesn't wake up until 9 in the morning, groaning as the sun shined into the room. He looks for his blanket which was kicked to his foot as he hears someone shuffling inside the room. 

"Jisung?" He lifts his body up which was aching all over after getting well rested on a nice soft bed, and tries to stare at the person who was in front of their closet. 

"Sorry, oh my god did I wake you up?" Jisung pulls a hoodie from his pile of clothes and looks at Chenle with a bit of worry mixing into his expression. 

"No, it's fine." Yawning, as he tries to stand up and stretch his arms. 

"Jaemin is making breakfast outside." Jisung says as he slips the hoodie onto his head and looks into the mirror to fluff out his bangs,he opens the door that leads to the living room and he does spot Jaemin cooking by the kitchen with that pink bow that secures the apron in front looking out of place on the graphic back design his leather jacket has.

He drags the chair on the dining table lightly as he sits down, looking at the cereal box in front of him and debating on whether he should eat that as he hears the sizzling of whatever Jaemin is cooking. Jisung who comes out of the room after a few minutes sits beside Chenle who then raises up to retrieve a spoon and a bowl along with the milk to pour himself a bowl of cereal. 

As he was taking his first bite, Renjun comes out of the other room dressed in a white tee that he is 100% sure belongs to Jisung since he saw him wear that tee the last time he was around here. Renjun settles on the opposite side of Jisung as they smile at each other, Chenle shoves a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. 

He sees a plate full of sausage and egg roll placed in front of him along with a steaming hot kimchi stew as Jaemin hands out the bowls he filled with rice and the utensils. He accepts the chopsticks Jaemin hands him who settles on his opposite side. 

He stabs a sausage with one of the chopsticks as he munch on it. He didn't receive a bowl of rice like how Jisung and Renjun did because he doesn't usually eat rice for breakfast. He bites off the sausage from his chopstick as he looks carefully at his roommates who are all dressed to head out. 

"Are you all heading out?" Another spoonful of cereal into his mouth. 

"Chenle, it's friday." Renjun says as he takes an eggroll and places it on top of Jisung's rice before taking one for himself. 

"Oh. God, I thought it was Saturday today." He hears Jaemin let out an airy laugh as he takes some rice using his chopsticks. 

"The practice must be draining you so hard to make you lose track of time." 

"It's really tiring but I feel like it will be worth it? I mean it better be worth it, I've been straining myself for weeks just to perfect the performance next Friday." 

"I hope you're still getting the rest that you need despite that, you've been working too hard, Lele." Jisung looks at him with concern in his eyes to which he just waves his hands about and bites the sausage he stabbed from the plate. 

"That's why I'm resting for four days, Sungie. I think I can stay more often in the apartment nowadays." 

The breakfast chatter falls into a more monotonous setting as they catch up some more, mostly on Chenle until Jisung and Renjun raise up from their seats and bid goodbye saying that they have to run now or else they'll be late leaving only Jaemin and Chenle by the dining table.

"I'll wash the dishes, you need to get going to your class now, Nana." He sees Jaemin frown. 

"No. You came here to rest after all those weeks so you're resting, I'll do the dishes for now." 

"But your classes─

" Mine doesn't start until 11 so it's fine, Lele. Go and take a bath first or play or watch, whatever suits what you want." 

He doesn't answer after that, he didn't really wanna push Jaemin right now and argue with him as to how Chenle might feel irresponsible for not helping with the dishes when he will lounge around the apartment for the rest of the day so instead he gets up as Jaemin smiles to him and retrieves his towel to take a nice hot shower. 

Drying his hair with a towel with his one hand and his phone on the other he opens his message which displays a message that Jaemin has sent 20 minutes ago. 

**Jaemin**

i placed the kimchi stew in the fridge

heat it up when you feel hungry, okay? 

(b ᵔ▽ᵔ)b

rest well, lele-ya~~~~

The thing is, after taking a nice shower and sending Jaemin a thank you with a smiley ':)' face he ended up sleeping the whole day away. The fatigue that he has suppressed quite well for the last three weeks finally caught up to his body with just a day of rest that when he woke up the room was dim with the sunlight no longer trying to creep out of the curtains he closed. 

He remained on his bed for a good couple of minutes until he reached out for his phone which displayed '5:23' on the screen and a few notifications from the theater gc and his social media (none from Jaemin). 

He felt himself become dizzy as he sits up from the bed, lifting the blanket that was weighing him down and walks towards the door to head out when he hears the front door lock click and meets Jaemin who was taking his shoes off by the door. 

He hits the light switch loudly to turn the lights on in the living room which makes Jaemin flinch and stumble a bit losing his balance as he tries to take off his shoe but regains it as he holds onto the wall near him.

"─come home." Chenle mumbles as he rubs his eyes and walks towards the kitchen with Jaemin following behind his steps after finally removing both his shoes. 

His voice was hoarse, that wasn't good, he thinks. He needs to drink some tea with honey and lemon, to be sure his voice would be fine for Friday. 

He was about to reach out for the fridge handle when he feels a hand on his arm which pulls him softly as he turns around to come face to face with Jaemin.

"Hey, are you sick?" Feeling a cool touch on his forehead he blinks his eyes, finally realizing how warm he really has been feeling for now. 

Oh, right he was sweating as well. 

"You have a fever." Jaemin states as Chenle places his hands on top of Jaemin's hand and brings it away from his forehead, letting out a small smile, already embracing the fact that he knew this would happen. 

"It's fine, it will go away by tomorrow. I think I practiced too hard that this is finally my body protesting against me." He laughs, the frown on Jaemin's face grows deeper. 

If he was to acknowledge one thing beside how he was sick after not taking care of himself is that he hated how Jaemin's face has been frowning a lot from last night to today more than the times he has seen him mad when he was around the apartment. 

"Did you even eat?" 

"Actually, no. I slept the whole day, I was gonna eat now? If you haven't had dinner yet, let's─

"Wait for a bit, I'll cook you something. I'm not allowing you to eat that spicy stew for tonight it might worsen your condition." Chenle shuts up at that. He sat down on the chair he was sat at in the morning and watched as Jaemin looked through their fridge. 

He placed his arms on top of the chair and rested his head on his arm as he watched Jaemin take out the ingredients that he needed, and he only notes seeing mandu, leek, and rice cake until he closes his eyes letting the rustling sound of plastic settle on his ears. 

He didn't even realize that he had fallen asleep until he felt a cooling patch plastered on his forehead by Jaemin who was staring at him as he opened his eyes. Jaemin smiles at him and raises up to his full height as he fixes Chenle's bangs to hide the cooling path on his forehead. 

Soon he was slurping up some rice cake along with Jaemin who was eating beside him as well. Jaemin cooked rice cake soup which was the only thing he could cook for now since they didn't have enough ingredients to cook porridge or if they did, Renjun and Jisung won't eat it anyway. 

"Lele."

"Hm?"

"Do you wanna watch a movie tonight?" 

And that's how Chenle finds him wrapped in a pink blanket on their living room couch as Chihiro tries to convince her parents to get out of the place they found. (Did he mention that Jaemin was resting his head on his chest and Chenle had his arm around him? No?) 

"I think they should listen to her." Chenle mumbles as he feels Jaemin's pink hair tickle his chin slightly, leaning back so he doesn't smell how minty the older's shampoo was.

"Hm, you're right, they should have done that." And her parents start turning into pigs as Jaemin tries to get out of the pink blanket that wraps them and Chenle lets his arms fall away from Jaemin's side. 

He walks to the kitchen and he follows his figure with his sight for a while before focusing back on Chihiro running away from her parents who turned into pigs. 

Chihiro was with Haku trying to cross the bridge as she held her breath when Jaemin returned with a mug in his hands placing it in front of Chenle's sight motioning for him to take it, so he did. 

It was tea with lemon and honey, Lele gasped lowly as Jaemin slipped into the blanket once again settling beside Chenle with his head resting on his shoulder. 

"Drink it up while it's warm." And Chihiro is now bumping into the wall at the end of the steps as she finds the adrenaline rush of trying that faulty and risky stairs out. 

The mug was now on the coffee table, emptied out of his contents as Chihiro meets the twin sister of Yubaba and Jaemin's head was on his chest again, and somehow their hands have found themselves a game of gently playing around each other. 

It was Chenle who hears the click of the front door lock when he stirred in his slumber, he opens his eyes slightly only to see Renjun and Jisung walking back holding hands until he was knock back to his slumber forgetting about what his sleepy state saw nor the fact that Jaemin was hugging him by his waist underneath the pink blanket that successfully hid him with only his pink crown of hair visible to Chenle.

Chenle's fever as he predicted was gone when he woke up the next morning. He was still on the couch wrapped with the pink blanket with the TV turned off and the curtains on their balcony were pushed to the side to showcase the weather outside. No one was home except himself again. 

(The mug by the coffee table was gone instead it was on the drying rack by the sink along with a few plates and bowls that were probably used by the three earlier in the morning. There was porridge (it was pumpkin he concluded after eating it) by the table with a sticky note on top of the lid saying "Don't skip your meals!!!! >:(." It brings a smile to his face as his hand linger on his forehead as he feels the cooling patch still cool against his skin as if it's been replaced recently.)

Jaemin comes home earlier than Jisung and Renjun does again for today. He hears the front door lock click as he stirs the eggs with tomatoes he was cooking. 

"Cooking something?" Jaemin rests his head on Chenle's shoulder who continues to stir the content of the frying pan.

"Yeah, for dinner, I'm cooking sausages as well." Jaemin just hums as he walks away from the kitchen to his room to change into something more comfortable. 

Chenle plates everything as Jaemin comes out of his room with hair slightly messy, he sits on the chair beside Chenle who notes how his hair bounces when he plops down on his chair. 

They settle into quietness as he munch on his egg tomato dish and ketchup coated sausage. 

"It's good." He hears Jaemin say as he hums, picking more of the sausage into his rice bowl. 

"I mean, I knew you could cook well but I never tasted it." Chenle laughs. 

"It was only Jisung who got the privilege to eat my dishes." Jaemin snorts. 

"That brat." Chenle just laughs and nods in agreement. 

It was on a Sunday morning that Chenle concluded that Jaemin never suited a frown. Yet, that was mostly the expression he sees on the other most of the time when he stares at him. 

He was usually smiling, what happened around while he was gone? 

Given that Donghyuck and Jeno were currently on an academic trip because of their course, they weren't the cause of that bitterness that settles on the currently angry cereal munching squirrel he was looking at who was death glaring at Jisung. 

Is it Jisung then? 

Renjun comes out of their shared room and somehow a puzzle piece clicks into Chenle's head. 

Did Park Jisung just head out from their room again? 

Right, the psychology major didn't sleep on his bed last night again. 

The conclusion he ends up making after a thorough observation for the day is that Renjun and Jisung have been unusually close and were basically joined at the hips for the whole time. 

But Chenle definitely remembered those two rarely interacted? Something in their house dynamics has seriously changed and he is just catching that now. 

Jaemin who would usually bother Jisung a lot was no longer trying to cling onto him and instead glowers in silence as Jisung follows Renjun around like a little puppy. 

Huh. 

"Jisung." The music playing in their room quiets down and settles into a background noise as Jisung answers him and spares him a look. 

"What's with you and Renjun?" He drops it immediately not used to beating around the bush. 

"Oh… I like him?" And that catches his attention as he sits up abruptly and looks at Jisung who was still calmly scrolling through his spotify deciding which song to play next. 

"You like him??" 

"Yeah, like I have a crush on him."

"Since when? I feel kinda betrayed that you didn't even tell me."

"I think since Jeno and Donghyuck left for their volunteering? Or when you temporarily moved to the theater's accommodation?" 

Chenle deflates at that, _"Oh."_

Jisung finally selects a song which he recognizes as Telephone by EXO-SC. 

His best friend throws the dog plushie he was hugging onto Chenle's face which pulls him out of his slight sadness, "Hey, I didn't mean to keep it from you like I said it just happened? I was having trouble sleeping and it happened that Renjun was there to talk to me and uh, hemighthaveimpressedmewithhisbrainlikehisthoughtscausewow."

Chenle thinks he should receive an award for being able to understand the frantic confession he hears from his best friend. 

_[You're acting like you're busy every time you're with me (What?)]_

The thing about Jisung is once he starts talking he doesn't stop and Chenle was just glad to listen to him ramble about the things that happened in the apartment since he gets his fill in without being too nosy. (He also started rambling about Renjun and how lovely he was and all Chenle can remember is when said friend sent his stuff down earlier than himself on the stairs in front of the library as his backpack strap snapped from the weight his bag had.)

Jisung is giggling like a school girl about how Renjun holds his hand so gently when they're on campus and how his hug was enough to make Jisung fall into sleep instantly because it was so comforting and warm as he picks up the lyrics of the song that was drowning underneath Jisung's big admiration. 

"So, you've been sleeping on the same bed with your almost boyfriend for a month now?" He sees him nod, blushing lightly. 

"He insists that I should sleep with him hugging me so I don't get those nasty nightmares I have when I sleep alone."

"That's cute."

_[I'm just watching, and at the same time_

_I'm waiting_

_Love, love, love, love, love_

_It's difficult difficult]_

They were watching a movie again and this time it was Ponyo as they downed their dinner on the couch instead of the dining table. 

It was just the creamy pasta that Renjun cooked for a change as their dinner and of course the sausages they always have. 

Chenle sits beside Jaemin on the couch while Renjun and Jisung were bumping shoulders as they sit on the floor, munching on their pasta as quietly as they think they are doing but small snickers emit from them. 

He hears a sigh let out beside him and feels a weight of something on his shoulder as Chenle takes the empty plate from Jaemin's hold, putting it on top of his and passing it to Renjun who takes the plates and sets them aside the coffee table. 

The movie was nearly ending as Sosuke was brought under the ocean to meet his mom again with the grandmas when he notices how Renjun was staring at Jisung who also scrunches his nose when Jisung gets doe eyed clearly fascinated by how pretty the animation in the TV looks like. 

It makes something inside him feel something. Renjun reaches out to ruffle Jisung's hair and pinches his cheeks as he pulls him closer. 

Oh. 

He looks back at the TV that now has Ponyo's mom showing in her more humane form when he feels like he's seeing an intimacy that wasn't meant for him. 

Somehow, his eyes have lingered to Jaemin's face as Ponyo's mom was talking. He notices how long the others eyelashes were and how peacefully he looks asleep like this. He was snoring softly to which Chenle notices the eyebags underneath his eyes. Has he not been sleeping well these days? 

He looks at him for a while, seeing how his bangs settle kinda uncomfortable on his closed eyes before lifting his other hand that hesitantly hovers over Jaemin's forehead but eventually finds the courage to gently sweep away the hair from his face. (Jaemin stirs in his sleep which makes Chenle halt his action, fortunately Jaemin doesn't wake up and nuzzles further into his neck which also makes him flinch because it tickled his neck.)

Jisung and Renjun were out til tomorrow since Renjun is supposedly finishing an artwork right now and Jisung decided to accompany while he was at it. 

And that left Chenle and Jaemin in the apartment, mostly Jaemin since it was back to practicing for him til late. 

It was around midnight when he slums against the wall trying to remove his shoes as exhaustion clings onto his body when he hears someone whimper. It was very muted that if the apartment wasn't so quiet except Chenle rustling around he would miss it. 

He stays quiet for a while until he hears it again. It was from the shared room of Jaemin and Renjun. Dropping his bag beside their couch, he makes his way towards the room, placing his hand on the doorknob and realizing that it was actually slightly ajar. 

"Jae..min?" It was dark inside, and with the light coming from the living room he sees how Jaemin was frowning with his blankets kicked to his feet. 

He was having a bad dream, he concludes as he comes near to Jaemin who was tossing and turning in his slumber with a frown. 

"Jaemin? Nana!" He shakes him lightly to wake the other up, gradually increasing the power when it didn't work. 

A thunder was heard from the outside as Jaemin finally opened his eyes immediately meeting with Chenle's concerned ones. 

"You were having a bad dream, are you okay now?" Jaemin continues staring at him. 

"Wait, I'll bring you some water─,

"No." He feels a hold on his wrist just as he turns his back on Jaemin which makes him turn around to face the shaken figure. 

"No?"

"Can you stay? Until I fall asleep again?" He stares at him, he wasn't looking at Chenle instead at the slightly opened door which lets the light from the living room slip through the crack. 

"Okay, I'll stay. But I need to change into my pajamas first, is that fine?" He sees him nod as he lets go of Chenle's wrist.

After quickly changing into his pajamas he retrieves a glass of water from the kitchen and heads back to the room he was in earlier, gesturing for Jaemin to take the glass of water to which he does and drinks it. 

Chenle was about to settle himself on the chair near Jaemin's bed when he heard him speak again.

"Join me to bed?" He doesn't say a word but instead climbs onto Jaemin's bed as he feels him scoot closer to the wall. 

"Do you, want me, to uh, hold your hand or hug you?" He lifts the blanket to cover them up as he waits for a response. 

"... Can I please have both?"

"Okay then, come here." 

A hand holds his as Jaemin comes closer to him engulfing him in a hug instead of him hugging Jaemin. 

And before he can even talk, Jaemin beats him into it. "I like having someone to hug better than being hugged." He relaxes in his hold afterwards. 

Neither one spoke a word after that as they slowly settled into a comfortable silence slowly feeling the drowsiness he had when he stepped a foot into their apartment. 

Chenle ends up jolting which awakens them both when he felt Jaemin's arms snake to his waist holding it tightly. It makes Jaemin laugh and Chenle just laughs embarrassingly. 

"So you were ticklish." The hand on his waist rubbed circles on his tummy which makes him more ticklish than he already was. 

Thinking that Jaemin would disregard the fact he currently learned was a very wrong move on his side as he feels Jaemin tickle him which sends him to a fit of giggles and laughter which also makes him jolt and imitating how a fish moves when it's out of water. 

The tickling went on for quite a while that it made his eyes tear up a bit but hearing Jaemin giggle after the previous state Chenle saw him in, it made him happy that he was able to make the other smile despite the nightmare he had. 

They settle down after a few more giggles and laughter, and he feels Jaemin's breath slow down as he tries to hum a tune, which means that he was sleepy. 

He feels Jaemin's nose rub against his crown, "You smell, very comforting." he would like to thank his shampoo for that. 

"I couldn't really sleep these past few weeks… hm… but.. with you.. Sleep.. mhmm easily." And he hears soft snores after that. 

Instead of falling asleep like Jaemin, Chenle learns to pick up the beat his heart was making. It was thrilling and upbeat, it was very loud, loud enough that it even echoes in his ears or even in the empty room that only had Jaemin's soft snores bouncing around the wall. 

He thinks that he better not let Jaemin hear his heart for tonight so he tries to grasp back with his bare hands the sleep that was slowly being shooed away by the adrenaline rumbling within him at the newly acquired feeling. 

(They fell asleep peacefully that night as the rain finally poured out completely outside, Jaemin stirs in his sleep when he hears the thunder but instead of flinching he finds himself smiling at how Chenle has his mouth slightly open when he sleeps.) 

The week goes on fast after that yet along the lines of Tuesday to Thursday they ended up picking up a mutual routine of waiting for the other to cuddle to sleep.

Chenle never thinks about how naturally and fitting the way his arms slips into Jaemin's torso nor how well he fits into Jaemin's arms whose hands hover for a bit on his waist as he slowly settles then down in order not to male him feel ticklish. 

On the morning of Friday, as Chenle comes out of his room, eyes roaming around until he sees Jaemin making breakfast he uses the courage his post-sleepiness still has and asks Jaemin something he has been meaning to ask him. 

"Will you come to my play tonight?" He closes his eyes as he rests his head on Jaemin's shoulder who hums in acknowledgement. He lifts his head from Jaemin's shoulder when he feels him turn around getting caught off guard when he receives a hug and an "Of course, I will."

He was getting nervous when he normally doesn't. His moves has been rehearsed for a lot of times that it has been engraved to him, his throat has been loosen up well enough to let him hit the notes he needed today yet he can't brush off that jittery feeling that is settling on the bottom of his stomach. He can hear the crowd, the staffs working, running even, on the backstages is drowning in his ears as he tries his best to focus. 

"We're starting in 5!"

All he hears is the cheers and screams before he sees Jaemin in the crowd smiling brightly at him as the light hits him in the eyes that momentarily blinds him. 

The show went well, he finished it perfectly as the roaring cheers and applause filled his ears yet he only needed one person to smile at him. 

Quickly going through a round of people congratulating him and the cast talking briefly as they patted themselves on the back for their delivery he runs out till he finds him, the adrenaline he felt that night rushing back to his veins as it halts when finally sees him. 

Jaemin was standing there with a bouquet in his hands, using his tiptoes to make an up and down motion as he looked around the people meeting Chenle's gaze which immediately lit up a smile onto his face. 

"Lele!" He sees him waving through the crowd. 

His heart cannot be stopped anymore can it be? 

He rushes to him, with three words swirling in his head as it finally dawns to him that it has always been Jaemin all along. 

From the time he first showed up to their apartment, curious about the people he will live with, it was Jaemin. 

To when he was practicing and holding up everything, his strength was him. 

When his heart beats a little faster than it should, it was when he was closer. 

The feeling of being home and being at ease, it was all him. 

Na Jaemin. 

"Lele! Oh my god, you were great!" He feels him hug him, it was warmer than it should be. 

"I got you bouquets, roses! Too basic isn't it? But hey you can never go wrong with the classic roses!" 

"Renjun and Jisung went out to get us food, told me that they're gonna wait for us at the apartment."

"... Chenle?" 

He looks around before slipping his hand into Jaemin's hand and dragging him to a much more secluded area around the hall far from the crowd that was slowly dispersing. 

"Nana."

"Yes?"

"Jaemin."

"Hm?" Jaemin was playing with his hand as he maintained eye contact with Chenle. 

"I like you." He feels the touch on his hand halt. 

Then it was like a movie played in slow-mo from then on, he felt the adrenaline in him finally burst as he said the words he has been holding onto slowly being replaced with fear as the lingering touch on his hand flies away, until Jaemin catches his hands that was slipping away and holds it tighter than before. He feels a hand on his chin which lifts his head up to meet eyes with Jaemin. His smile slowly seeping to his whole face starting from his eyes to his mouth then to his body. 

The smile was contagious that it made him smile as well. Or even laugh as they burst into laughter basking together in the finally affirmed emotion. 

Jaemin pulls him closer, taking him in a hug and if Jaemin wasn't talking near his ear he would have missed what he said. 

"I like you too." It was muffled but it was enough for him to hug him back tighter, the plastic on the bouquet rustled as he tried his best to wrap his arms around Jaemin. 

They pulled apart with still smiles on their faces as Jaemin asked, 

"To be sure, you're my boyfriend now right?" 

Chenle just nods. 

"Guess, I should tell Renjun to buy two cakes since it will be a double celebration. Maybe three because he finally gathered his guts to ask Jisung as well?" 

Chenle just laughs at it. 

**Author's Note:**

> so . Haha . i wrote this in like two different days so if it feels off I Am So Sorry, im a dumbass who cant pick up the pace of her fic if not finished on the same day TAT no beta,,, ive been writing this since ive impulsively chop my hair so very sorry for the errors you see T___T this fic was literally born from me thinking about jaemle cuddling but jaemin ends up tickling lele so haha,, the plot was just created as i wrote this, thankfully it flowed nicely (Hopefully ÷>) ok im rambling if you reached till here thank you!!!! so much!! for reading!!! <3333!!!!


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